brown Archives

October 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

October 12, 2026

She's a statistics expert, and she works with BIRD data - what a great combination of technology and nature! Her inspiration for her personal style is this dapper creature:

Going into full-tilt autumn, our heroine felt that she was relatively well prepared for most of what life had to offer:

I have to share this with you: in the year of my birth, 1960, the average woman's wardrobe (in the US) was 42 garments. That would be the wardrobe above plus two.

And when I really try to remember what I wore through high school and college (when I was not interested in clothes much at all!), I may have had this many pieces. But I don't think so...

Now, the average wardrobe is OVER 150 things. What has changed so ... View the Post

October 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Spirit of Autumn by Albert Pinkham Ryder

October 9, 2026

Our heroine, the professional listener, is overwhelmed by how many clients she has right now... Calmness is in short supply!

So let's draw our own personal relaxed mindset from the muted colors and soft focus of this beautiful painting:

At the end of September, our heroine's 40-piece was this:

And this was her accessory collection. There's something particularly wonderful about brown shoes - I can't come up with the right word!

Our heroine didn't have a clear idea about what she wanted to buy this month. Well, she had been pondering the idea of a flannel shirt, if she could find one that would fit in and be worn a lot. And another skirt - wearing a skirt to work seems to make her feel ... View the Post

Chic Sightings – Combining Two Neutrals: Black & Brown

September 28, 2026

I've been seeing a lot of black with brown in my neighborhood, and I've been meaning to share it with you...

And then I stumbled across this painting! I've been having quite the run of good luck with paintings corresponding with my "real life" sightings; I think that's a good sign.

The first brown and black sightings I made were of women wearing a brown skirt or pair of pants with pretty much everything else in black. A scarf with the two colors, or a pair of earrings in onyx and tiger's eye, served to pull together everything and make it look intentional:

I particularly admired this dressy version:

A brown dress might be a fun way to experiment with brown; add a scarf and earrings, and your ... View the Post

I Love It But How Will I Wear It? Brown Striped Sweater from Seasalt Cornwall

September 18, 2026

I finally remember why Seasalt Cornwall ISN'T a strange brand to me - there's one on the main shopping street where my uncle lives in England! I'm occasionally crazy, but I'm not completely gone. Yet...

So one of you - at least - has a longing for this sweater, and isn't at all certain if it will work for her. My first instinct: if you have brown in your closet already, this sweater is going to fit in like it was born there!

THE LINK IS WORKING! AND YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT THE FIVE COLORS IN WHICH THIS SWEATER IS OFFERED...

Maybe our heroine is headed to Garrett County Maryland, for the Autumn Glory Festival?

At any rate, she's got a long weekend of "leaf peeping" ahead, and wants to build a tiny ... View the Post

September 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

September 11, 2026

Before we visit our heroine the wildlife statistical analyst, let's spend just a second admiring her favorite photograph:

One of the things that our heroine really likes about Common Shelducks is the high-contrast juxtaposition of colors on their body. She's keeping that in mind this month when she shops!

Right now, after her August shopping, her current wardrobe looks like this - certainly a wardrobe that would get you through quite a bit of time, or a VERY long trip:

These accessories are delicious...

Maybe it's because it's September, and maybe there's some magical, hidden fashion reason, but there's a lot of brown clothing available right now! Our heroine decides to take a look at where she ... View the Post

September 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Spirit of Autumn by Albert Pinkham Ryder

September 9, 2026

Our heroine the professional listener had great luck last month finding some brown clothes - maybe this month she will have luck with teal?

But first, let's look at the painting which is her inspiration. The art will endure long after all of our wardrobes have been dispersed to the winds...

After she bought her dark brown garments last month, this is her (currently 36-piece) wardrobe:

And these are her accessories. I swear, I could wear the same clothes every day if I had the right accessories!

The morning of our heroine's shopping adventure for September, she pulled out of her closet all of her greenish, teal-ish, aqua-ish clothes.

There's one big gap - she doesn't have a pair of pants in ... View the Post

September 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Winter Cottonwoods by Georgia O’Keeffe

September 4, 2026

Starting with a beautiful painting, and finding yourself with a lovely, subtle wardrobe...

At the end of August, our heroine had the following wardrobe - a balanced mix of yellow accents with a touch of grey, and a wide range of cool-ish, dusty browns:

And her accessories are a thing of beauty - I'm always SO smitten with each heroine's combination of essentials and ornamentals!

Our heroine doesn't have any one thing she desperately needs, but she quickly saw the usefulness of a matching cardigan and pair of cords for cooler weather! And she's learning that any time she sees a classic top in a "new to her" shade of beige or brown, it's worth a second look...

She finds the 56-garment Template ... View the Post

A Pink & Brown Checked Suit – Is It Worth It?

August 26, 2026

One last suit, and WHAT a suit it is! The pants are 7/8 length, so your shoes get some attention, and the jacket is a snappy somewhat short style... The Boden site shows this suit worn with nothing underneath the jacket - would you do that?

You really have to get a close-up of the fabric to see what colors are here - I could have chosen a shade of rust, but I opted for the red that Boden was showing with these pieces.

Frankly, I think having the suit in your hands would be helpful before you started doing a lot of "outfit building" with this jacket and pants!

yes, I'm re-using quite a few things in this post - this is deliberate, and not just bone-deep laziness on my part! Good, classic items can be ... View the Post

Start With Art – A Third Look at Wall of Light Orange Yellow by Sean Scully

August 19, 2026

We've met this heroine twice - once in February, and then again in May. She travels every three months or so, so we catch up with her just in time to see what's new in her wardrobe....

Her inspiration painting is a winner - intriguing, and much more complex than one realizes at first glance. And what a range of colors!

Her next trip should be in weather that's a bit cooler than we're having right now! They want to go leaf peeping. Yes, it's kind of an irritating term, but it's a glorious and very rewarding way to spend a few days...

She's chosen the following for her wardrobe palette:

Let's take a quick flash back to see her earlier travel wardrobes - the first was for cool spring weather:

And ... View the Post

August 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Common Shelduck by Dennis A. Jones

August 12, 2026

Let's visit the duck, shall we? I think she's like a lot of us these days - calm on the surface, paddling like mad underneath...

Our heroine - the wildlife research statistician - is finishing up her stint at the very rural Vermont college...

At the beginning of August, this is the wardrobe our heroine has assembled:

And these are her most delectable accessories:

Maybe she's exaggerating, but she feels like EVERY person working with her right now puts on white pants or white jeans after work! She decides that she's going to look at how much white clothing she owns, and to think about making a bold wardrobe addition...

This is what she has right now, in white:

The other white thing that ... View the Post

August 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Spirit of Autumn by Albert Pinkham Ryder

August 10, 2026

So many of our heroines this months are absolutely buried (metaphorically speaking, of course) in advertising for fall clothes. It's so easy to see a handful of things that catch your eye - you buy on impulse - your tidy wardrobe starts to be less and less tidy...

Our heroines are responding by taking a hard look at what they already have, and identifying gaps in their wardrobe. Rationally, if our heroines are able to get dressed every day, their wardrobes don't actually have gaps! But we are going to shop for a new season (most of us!), and thus our heroines are going to try to do it sensibly...

Today's professional listeners has chosen this painting as her style-defining inspiration:

This wardrobe is ... View the Post

August 2026 – Building a Wardrobe Starting With Winter Cottonwoods by Georgia O’Keeffe

August 5, 2026

So now that stores are filling up with clothes, I'm going to look at all six of our wardrobes and try to fill in gaps and find some balance for our heroines.

Our next painting is a favorite of our landscaping expert, who is most comfortable wearing mostly subtle colors found in nature:

Coming into August, our heroine had this lovely wardrobe, but it really doesn't reflect that she planned to use grey as an equal neutral with shades of brown. Hmm....

Her accessories are gorgeous...

Our heroine has four grey garments, and an ivory tee shirt. These are all excellent garments, but she's interested in looking for more grey. Oddly, it can be the most difficult color to find!

But since Autumn is ... View the Post